The Utah Mammoth go into their Saturday clash with the Calgary Flames not only looking to end a road trip on a positive note, but also to build on a return into a playoff position.
Thanks to a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, the Mammoth arrive in Calgary riding a two-game winning streak and sitting in the Western Conference’s top wild-card spot.
“We want to keep working the same way,” said defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, who scored once and added an assist in Vancouver. “When you keep working hard, you give yourself a chance to win the game. We did that (Friday) and want to keep doing that.”
The Mammoth are set to conclude a six-game road trip that opened with three regulation losses.
Utah stopped the slide with a 7-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, then claimed a 2-0 lead by the end of the second period against the Canucks. The Mammoth held on despite being outshot 32-18 through the clash.
“It’s a tough schedule and you get tired mentally,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “It’s tough to be on top of your game when you’re tired, but that’s the challenge for us to stay strong mentally and to manage the game the right way. The team that does it best will take advantage of it.”
Which means Tourigny’s squad had best be ready to turn the page to finish a tough road swing with momentum.
“Right now for us, what’s important is to move on,” he said. “I had the same message after Anaheim. It’s good we win, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. Calgary has (points in) seven of their last 10 and they’re playing better hockey. They’re home and want to take advantage of it.”
Calgary, which is six points outside of a playoff position, opened a four-game homestand with an impressive 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
The Flames broke open a tie game with a trio of third-period goals in a much-needed victory.
“The game’s definitely been trending in the right direction,” said forward Matt Coronato, whose third-period tally sent Calgary off and running. “I think every night we play hard as a group and we’re playing smart and putting it together.”
A huge key to the team’s success of late has been the penalty kill, and it went to a new level against the Wild. The Flames were perfect against five Minnesota power plays. They have not allowed an opposition man-advantage marker in five consecutive games, and they have killed 29 of 30 power plays over the past nine outings.
“I think they have a really good understanding now of how we want to kill,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “Trent (Cull, an assistant coach) has done a really good job of breaking it down the last little while. It still gives up chances we don’t want to give up, but I feel it’s much more aggressive in an intelligent way. … There’s a purpose.”
Now the quest is to build a winning streak to have any hope of pulling into the playoff picture.
“We know they’re a good team, play with a lot of skill,” Coronato said of the Mammoth. “For us, it’s playing our game. I know it’s sounds simple, but when we’re doing things the right way, we can shut down their offense and create our own off that.”
